Daily Current Affairs, 23rd May 2018

1) HD Kumaraswamy Took Oath As New Karnataka CM

•The JD(S)-Congress coalition government head HD Kumaraswamy was sworn-in as the New Chief Minister of Karnataka. Governor Vajubhai Vala administered the oath of office and secrecy to Kumaraswamy.

•Congress Leader G. Parameshwara was sworn in as Deputy Chief Minister. There are 221 elected members in the Legislative Assembly, and the coalition partners have 117 members, including one BSP and two independents.

2) Finance Ministry Ties Up With 40 Companies Under Mudra Scheme

•The Union Finance Ministry has tied up with 40 entities including Flipkart, Swiggy, Patanjali and Amul for extending loans to small entrepreneurs under the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY).

•In order to identify people who can be given funds under the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY), the ministry has organised an event in Mumbai to extend loan under the scheme. The CEOs of various Banks, senior officials in the rank of MD or CEO from Oil Companies, Railway Board would be part of the event.

3) Pravin Agrawal Appointed BHEL Director

•State-run power equipment maker Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) has appointed Pravin L. Agrawal as a part-time official director on its board.

•An Indian Forest Service officer, Agrawal is presently joint secretary in the Department of Heavy Industry (DHI), Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises.

4) MCX Launches India's 1st Copper Options

•India's Multi Commodity Exchange had launched the country's first copper options contracts. Three contracts with a lot size of 1 tonne were launched.

•The option contract will provide physical market participants an additional instrument to hedge their risk.

5) English Translation Of Polish Novel ‘Flights’ Wins Man Booker Prize

•Polish author Olga Tokarczuk has won the Man Booker International Prize for her novel ‘Flights’. The novel, translated by Jennifer Croft, interweaves narratives of travel with explorations of the human body.

•It bagged the 67,000 US dollar prize after topping a shortlist of six titles, with Tokarczuk becoming the first Polish writer to win the award. The awards were announced at a ceremony in London. The head judge of the awards was Lisa Appignanesi. 

6) AB De Villiers Retires From International Cricket

• Star South African batsman AB de Villiers has announced his decision to retire from international cricket with immediate effect. In his 14-year career, he played 114 Tests, 228 One-Day Internationals (ODI) and 78 T20 Internationals. 

Some of the Phenomenal Records of ABD are:

•The World Record for the fastest ODI 50 (16 balls), 100 (31 balls) and 150 (64 balls), the second highest individual Test score for South Africa (278*), the highest points (935) by a South African on the ICC Test rankings and has claimed the coveted SA Cricketer of the Year award twice (2014 and 2015).